Hiccups Inner Demons
by THE NIGHTS RAGE
Summary: When Hiccup was nine he was attacked by a Night Fury. Now after being away for seven years he's back but not as he use to be. 50% of the credit goes to my partner.
1. Chapter 1

The air surrounding the arena was tense as the Gronkle continued to smash against the arenas walls and protective bars. Fishleg's, using the skills he had learned from years worth of trying continued to circle the beast. The Gronkle had already used up three of its six shots. Astrid, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut had already defeated their dragons finalizing their graduation from dragon training. Fishlegs was the last to fight and no one was sure whether he would win or lose. He had made a lot of progress in training but was still nowhere near as strong or confident as the other Vikings. The fight had reached its climax with the Gronkle growing frustrated with Fishlegs as he continued to circle the dragon using his hammer and shield to make lots of noise. The Gronkle became carless and used up his last three shots missing Fishlegs completely. Fishlegs then made the finishing move and charged at the disorientated dragon bringing his heavy hammer down on the dragons head multiple times. The dragon twitched then grew still. Fishlegs raised his head, splatters of blood across his face and looked at Stoick. The two men stared at each other until Stoick nodded his head, a smile appearing in the face and the rest of the arena erupted into applause. All five teens had graduated dragon training and had now passed into the rite of adulthood. The rest of the Vikings made their way to the mead hall to celebrate, but the teens lagged behind a bit still in awe of their achievement.

"I can't believe that we've finally done it. We survived dragon training." Ruffnut said in amazement.

"Yeah..." Fishlegs replied whipping the blood of his face.

"It doesn't really matter though, because tomorrow everyone's going to forget that we all just graduated." Snotlout huffed in an annoyed voice.

"Why, what happens tomorrow?" Tuffnut asked.

"I can't believe you forgot." Snotlout deadpanned. There was a moment of silence as Tuffnut tried to remember.

"Hiccup's coming home tomorrow." Astrid said quietly, not even taking her eyes of the mead hall ahead.

"Oh yeah right, I remember now." Tuffnut said. "I wonder how much he's changed."

"I doubt he's changed that much, he is Hiccup after all." Snotlout laughed.

"How long has it been since he left?" Fishlegs asked.

"Seven years." Astrid replied, still not breaking her stride.

(Flashback seven years earlier) No one knew exactly what happened to Hiccup on the day he left. Only that something happened to him during a raid the previous night, everyone assumed that he had caused some trouble as usual, but Stoick refused to tell anyone what had happened. No one saw Hiccup at all during the preparations for his voyage, he stayed locked in his house. It was only just before the ship left that everyone saw Hiccup. He emerged from his house flanked by Gobber and Stoick. Everyone gasped when they saw the state Hiccup was in. He was covered in bandages around his torso and even though they looked fresh, blood was already seeping through. His right leg was in a dried mud caste and he was using a large wooden stick to walk. One of his arms hung limp at his side. He made his way down towards the docks, stumbling a few times before being caught by Gobber or Stoick. Hiccup never removed his gaze from the floor until he boarded the boat. No one ever thought they'd see a nine year old boy in that kind of shape. Gobber and Stoick whispered to each other for a moment before Gobber followed Hiccup onto the boat and they set off. Stoick refused to talk about Hiccup or Gobber and soon everyone forgot, until a few days ago when a carrier pigeon came and delivered a message from Gobber, saying that he and Hiccup were on their way back to Berk. (End flashback)

"Gotta admit, dude got pretty banged up." said Ruffnut, with as much sympathy as she showed in a long time.

"Banged up? dude was almost torn apart." said Tuffnut his face turning green from the sheer thought of it.

"If he hasn't changed much physically then no doubt something like that had to of done something to his mental state and he's gotta have a limp if he had to have a mud cast." Fishlegs said thinking out loud.

"Guys he won't be here until tomorrow so until then let's party." said Snotlout cheered followed by the rest og the gang other than Astrid who rolled her eyes at their childish actions.

The celebration carried on long into the night and most passed out in the mead hall, still holding their mead goblets. That was until a horn was sounded from down by the docks, signaling a ship had been sited on the horizon. Vikings all over the hall groaned nursing their heads. Stoick rouses his head from the table and glanced around the room in confusion. The horn blew again and caused Stoick jump. Recognition dawned on his face and he jumped up.

"Everyone get up their here!" Stoick shouted. More groans from the Viking around the room.

"Everyone their here, get to the docks now!" Stoick ordered. He pushed past everyone and marched down to the docks. Astrid having been responsible the night before was up early at the docks and stood watching the large ship as it came closer. She was deep in thought she couldn't help but think about how much Hiccup had changed. Did he get stronger? did he get taller? Or was he the same old screw-up that was never where he was supposed to be? She was brought out of her daze when Stoick joined her at the docks and was joined shortly by the other Viking teens and half the village. The boat docked and every thing was silent for the moment until Gobber walked off the large boat, well technically he limped because sometime during the last seven years he had lost one of his legs and now walked on what appeared to be a wooden stump. He walked towards Stoick who held out his hand to shake Gobber's hand, but instead of his hand there was a metal hook. Stoick was surprised at first but went along with it.

"Welcome back Gobber." Stoick said happy to see his old friend, or what was left of him.

"It's good to be back." said Gobber

"I trust everything went smoothly." said Stoick

"Yes, Hiccup survived, has received training, and is ready to return."

"Well then let's see him then." Stoick said barely suppressing an excited smile.

"Hiccup!" Gobber shouted. "Get out here and say hello to every one" Everyone was silent as they waited for Hiccup to get off the ship.

A tall figure ran toward the edge of the ship and jumped off surprising every one and landed on his feet with a thud. The man was dressed in a blue Nadder scale tunic with sleeves that looked like strips of its wing webs that were mostly yellow with red and blue rings around the cuffs, green Zippleback scale leggings that looked somewhat wide with orange spines on the backs, and boots made from the same Nadder scales as his tunic. Everyone gasped at the man that was literally wearing two dead dragons. He walked towards Gobber and Stoick and held out his hand which was covered in a thick black glove made the ends of his fingers look sharp and pointy, which couldn't be right. Stoick reached forward showing some slight hesitation, before firmly grasping Hiccups hand and shakes it.

Hiccup raised his head and looked Stoick in the eyes. He turned and looked over the surprised faces of the village. He looked at each of his old 'friends' with indifference. Before turning his gaze back to Stoick.

"It's good to be home."


	2. Chapter 2

Hiccup didn't say much, only answering with one or two words when asked questions about the last seven years and being on purposely vague and sarcastic, well at least that part of his personality hadn't changed.

"Where have you been?" A random Viking asked.

"Here and there" Hiccup replied staring straight into the Vikings eyes.

"What did you do?" Another Viking Questioned.

"Sail."

"What was it like?" A third Viking asked excitedly.

"Boring."

The Vikings soon realized that they weren't going to get much out of Hiccup, he was no longer the little push over they remembered. Gobber never left his side during the questioning but grew tense when anyone stepped too close to Hiccup. No one knew why they were acting so strange and they refused to answer any questions about why they left.

Astrid looked Hiccup over, taking in his strange outfit, odd shaped hands and dark expression. He had definitely changed a lot in the last seven years and not just in appearance, his attitude and personality had changed too. He no longer seemed to be the little awkward child that always managed to get into trouble and mess everything up. Hiccup still looked like a fishbone but stood straight, constantly on alert. He remained silent after everyone stopped asking him questions. His face had no expression of emotion he looked around at all the Viking, scrutiny in his eyes. He gave nothing away about what he'd been through or what happen and that annoyed her. She hated not knowing important stuff.

"Well," Stoick began. "I'm sure you're both exhausted after your long journey. How about..."

"What was the celebration for?" Hiccup interrupted not stopping from analyzing the villagers around him.

"What?" Stoick said, shocked that Hiccup had dared interrupt him.

"Everyone has hangovers." Hiccup stated as if it were obvious. "And that Viking in the back," Hiccup pointed to a large looking Viking covered in furs at the back of the crowd, "Is telling the Viking next to him that he was so wasted last night that he can't remember if he went home with his wife or someone else. And judging by that woman over there," Hiccup pointed his gloved finger at a Viking way off to his right, "who is telling her friend that her husband didn't come home after the party last night, so I'm guessing the answer is someone else and if I had to guess I would say that it was her," Hiccup pointed at another woman on his far left. "Because she smells of fur and sex." Everyone stood in silence and stared at Hiccup. "So what was everyone celebrating?"

"Erm..." Stoick began, still not quite sure what he had just witnessed. "The recruits graduated yesterday."

Hiccup's eyes immediately moved to look at his former 'friends' that stood at the front of the crowd. He stared coldly at them for a few moments.

"Congratulations." He said finally. The five teens stared at him in confusion.

Hiccup said nothing else and started walking up the hill, Gobber falling into step behind him almost like a shadow. The crowd parted before him.

"Hiccup where are you going?" Stoick asked jogging to catch up with his sons long, powerful strides.

"Well I don't want to be the only one who hasn't graduated." Hiccup almost laughed, almost.  
Hiccup continued to walk into the village towards the arena. "Are you sure you don't want to rest first."

"Believe me when I say that after being stuck on a boat for a straight week, there is nothing I want to do more." Hiccup said continuing up the hill.

The Vikings he'd left behind stood dumb in silence for a few moments all looking at each other, except the married couple that had been embarrassed by Hiccup who tried their best to not look at each other. Then there was a mad dash towards the arena, everyone pushing and pulling trying to get the best seats.

"Um what just happened?" asked Snotlout dumbstruck with the others.

"I think the fish bone became a shark bone." said Ruffnut.

"How could he smell and hear all that stuff from that far away?" said Tuffnut.

"Lets get to the arena before all the good seats are taken, lets take the short cut." said Fishlegs

Meanwhile at the entrance to the arena Gobber cornered Hiccup before he could walk through the gate.

"Hiccup I don't think this is a good idea. What if you lose control in front of the whole village? I really think you should wait until I break the news to Stoick and the council, and see how they react first." Gobber said in a hushed tone.

"Why?" Hiccup said, not taking his eyes off the glove that he was fastening. "They're going to find out I'm different sooner or later, so why not sooner? And as for losing control, I'm sure I can handle a Gronkle. I've fought worse and managed to stay in control, so why should this be any different?" Hiccup reasoned, now checking that his boots were fastened properly.

"I have a bad feeling about this Hiccup."

"Relax, if something does go wrong, then I can easily get away until you explain everything. It will be fine." Hiccup reassured before walking into the arena.

"Hiccup..." Gobber called after him. Hiccup turned his head back. "Try and act normal." He said almost pleading.

"Come on its me, when have I acted anything but normal." Hiccup laughed and just like that, Hiccup was the first Viking ever to walk into a fight laughing.

Gobber took his place next to Stoick, giving the chief a reassuring nod before looking down at Hiccup a smirk still plastered on his face. 'Act normal' Gobber chanted in his head. Hiccup stood at the center of the arena waiting for the door to the pen. The door remained closed. Hiccup unsure what was happening looked up at Gobber who ever so slightly inclined his head. Hiccup looked towards where Gobber was indicting and noticed for the first time the weapons rack. He guessed that they were waiting for him to pick up a weapon before opening the door.

Hiccup looked up at Stoick and said "I would prefer to use my bare hands." Next to Stoick he saw Gobber face palm himself.

"He wants to fight without a weapon?" questioned Fishlegs

"He's gonna get killed." stated Tuffnut

"Um... I don't think that's wise Hiccup." Stoick replied, giving his son a strange look thinking that his son must have lost his mind, no Viking could survive a fight with a dragon unarmed.

"I don't use weapons to fight." Hiccup said seriously. "They get in my way."

"Get in his way?" Ruffnut repeated.

Stoick looked over at Gobber to question his son's odd behavior but Gobber avoided his gaze.

"Are you sure? Because..."

"Positive." Hiccup interrupted again. Hiccup pushed the weapons rack up against the wall of the arena so it was out of the way.

The whole arena gave Hiccup odd and pitying glances, probably assuming that he was crazy and going to die. The Viking in charge of the door controls looked to Stoick for confirmation, not wanting to be responsible for the death of the chief's son. Stoick was hesitant but eventually nodded.

The door slowly opened and the Gronkle burst into the open arena, looking franticly around flying in odd patterns. Until it's gaze finally settled on Hiccup who had yet to move. The Gronkle charged at Hiccup and everyone watched as Hiccup stood his ground and gazed at the dragon with such hatred it almost made the Vikings shy away. The beast charged full speed at Hiccup and just before the Gronkle made contact with Hiccups body, he ran so fast all they could see of him was a blur and stopped behind the Gronkle. The Gronkle already at full speed had no time to stop before it flew face first into the arena wall. Everyone stared in amazement at Hiccup's speed. Hiccup then jumped forward towards the dragon, nearly the whole length of the arena, holding his leg in front of him and his heel landed at the base of the dragon's neck, causing the Gronkle to roar out in pain.

"Did you see what he just did." said Ruffnut not sure if what she saw was real

"If you mean Hiccup having plus ten speed, strength, and accuracy then yeah I did." stated Fishlegs in his nerdy dialect.

Astrid watched Hiccup as the gracefully moved around the arena, missing all the dragons' attacks, causing the dragon to become careless and frustrated. Hiccup dealt his attacks ferociously, he eyes nearly blazing with hatred for the beast. Astrid was not ashamed to say that she was extremely impressed. She hadn't spared that much thought on Hiccup's return, thinking that he would still be the same annoying Hiccup, but she couldn't have been more wrong. The weak, awkward child that she remembered was gone. The person that fought before her was a strong, confident man. His skills were unmatched as he swiftly ran around the arena. The way he used his bare hands to battle the beast was inspirational. Astrid found it hard to take her eyes off him when she could see him.

The Gronkle had long run out of flame shots and was now beat and battered, but still refused to surrender. This didn't seem to bother Hiccup, who had barely broken a sweat and who seemed to enjoy toying with the dragon.

"Hiccup" Gobber shouted into the arena. "Enough playing around. Just finish it."

Hiccup turned to face Gobber, turning his back on the dragon, that was having trouble pulling itself up after Hiccups last attack, a punch to the right of the dragons face, sending the dragon flying into the wall with enough force to make the arena shake.

"It's not my fault the beast won't give up. If it would just hold still, then I could do it humanly. But..." Hiccup jumped high above the Gronkle pressing his foot down hard on the dragons side. "...the dumb animal just won't give up." Hiccup smiled down at the broken animal and pressed his foot down even harder causing the Gronkle to wince in pain. Hiccup had definitely changed a lot during the time he had been away.

"Hiccup!" Gobber shouted again, a slight warning in his tone. Hiccup huffed and took a few steps away from the beast and started to unfasten one of his gloves.  
Everyone was surprised when the dragon let out a desperate roar and charged at Hiccup. Having only being a few steps away, Hiccup had no time to react as the dragon knocked him into the floor and then repeatedly crushed him into the ground. The Vikings gasped at the pure brutality of the attack, most frozen in shock. Astrid was taken by surprise bye thought and by the sadness that came over her at the thought of Hiccup being dead.

"Odin's ghost." Fishlegs blanched

"It mashed him like a potato." said Snotlout

When the dust cleared all the Vikings could see was a massive crater where hiccup had lay, it was so deep none of the Vikings could see into it. The dragon roared again, clearly it had been driven mad and now continually tried to smash its way out of the arena, which only served to inflict more pain on the beast. The beast was not deterred by the pain from trying to escape and flew around occasionally banging into things. The beast attacks were getting weaker and weaker until it eventually fell to the ground in exhaustion. The arena was silent as they stared between the massive crater and the barely alive dragon.

Then suddenly a loud scream came from the crater, which almost sounded like a roar. Everyone cried out as they saw Hiccup claw his way out of the crater. His fingers seemed to grow into long claws as he tried to push himself onto his feet. But a wave of pain forced him back onto his hands and knees as claws grew out of his feet, tearing his boots. His hair became as black as the midnight sky. His mouth opened in a silent scream as his teeth changed into razor sharp fangs. He let out another scream/roar as he clawed his tunic off his body as black patches that looked like scales began to grow out of his skin. Two black shapes began to press against the inside of Hiccups skin on his back, they pressed and pressed until the skin tore apart and a pair of black wings unfolded out of his back causing the Vikings to gasp in fear.

There was no question this time as Hiccup let out another roar as he held his claws over his eyes, almost looking like he was about to scratch them out. Eventually he climbed to his feet. Then he threw his claws away from his face and let out an ear piercing roar as every Viking stared into his glitting acidic green eyes.

Hiccup's new soulless eyes landed onto the Gronkle before him. "**You.**" Hiccup said in a voice that didn't even sound human anymore. The Gronkle shied away from his gaze and pressed itself into the wall as if trying to hide. "**Alright you oversized gecko I'm done playing around.**" Hiccup said, purposely stomping slowly towards the dragon. "**You think you can just attack me when my back is turned and get away with it? YOU'RE DEAD!**" The dragons fight or flight instincts kicked in and since flight wasn't an option it charged at Hiccup. Hiccup raised one of his clawed hands and brought it down on the Gronkle's head before it had time to hit him. The Gronkle smashed into the ground and Hiccup bit into its neck and listened as the beast howled in pain. Rage consumed Hiccup and he continued to bite and claw at the wounded dragon.

Hiccup eventually pulled back and looked disgustedly at the Gronkle. Hiccup pulled his clawed hand above the beast, his claws almost seeming to grow and he slowly brought them down above the dragon's heart. "**Time to end this**."

"HICCUP!" Gobber cried.

Hiccup's claw stopped just before it reached the dragons scales. Hiccup tilted his head upwards towards where Gobber had pressed himself up against the arenas protective bars.

"Hiccup, Stop." Gobber pleaded.

The two Viking started at each other for a few moments until Hiccup let out another roar before grabbing the barely conscious Gronkle and throwing is back into the pen. The arena shook at the force of the throw and the pens door slammed shut. Hiccup looked back at Gobber and the two went through some silent communication. Hiccup spread out his jet black wings and inhaled deeply then opened his mouth and shot out a fire ball at the bars above the arena, leaving a massive hole. Hiccup then flew through the hole and soon disappeared past the clouds.

The arena remained silent, most Vikings unsure what to do, what there their next step of action should be. Some Viking stared at the clouds, where Hiccup had disappeared. Some stared at the giant whole the Gronkle had made, others at the imprints and rubble around the arena, but most stared at Gobber. Gobber sensing their stares and turned to addressed the crowd. He looked around the faces of the tribe, ranging from confused, angry, and scared and so on. He stood tall and did not shy away from the stares.

"I need a drink." Gobber said and then turned and headed towards the mead hall. Most Viking got up to join him, but remained silent.  
Astrid lagged behind as the arena gradually emptied. Astrid replayed everything over and over in her head. And came to a conclusion, one she was ashamed to admit.  
Astrid was scared.

She was sure she wasn't the only one. During the fight Astrid saw some of the bravest warriors in Berk look like they were going to wet themselves. She was scared of what Hiccup could do, the power he held, the fear he instilled in people. She was scared of Hiccup.

But the thing that scared her the most was that these new feeling of attraction she had felt for Hiccup ever since he had arrived were still there, if anything they felt stronger.

Astrid was definitely scared. Scared of what was going to happen next, scared of what was going to happen to Berk if he came back. And most importantly scared of what was going to happen to her if he didn't.


	3. Chapter 3

The mead hall was eerily quite as every Viking from the village crowded into the large room. Usually you wouldn't be able to hear yourself think over the noise every Viking was making, but not today. The sound of a feather dropping would be heard the room was that silent, as each Viking stared into top of their untouched mead goblet.

Gobber could feel the tension in the room as everyone waited for him to explain what the Hel had happened to Hiccup during his fight. He knew that there was no escaping it any further, he would have to tell them. He looked over at Stoick and saw the slight fear and anger in his eyes over every ones reaction to what Hiccup had become. Would they fear him? Hate him? Kill him? He didn't know. Nothing like this had ever happened before, it was unheard of. Gobber polished off the last of the mead in his goblet and stood up; the sound of his chair scrapping against the cold stone floor caused every Viking's head to turn in his direction.

"Alright, I know your all wounding what happened in the arena earlier, but before I tell you, you must understand that Hiccup is no danger to any human being."  
Murmurs erupted through out the hall; Viking's everywhere scoffing at what Gobber had just announced, disbelief written all over their faces. Never the less Gobber carried on.

"I guess I'll start at the beginning. Seven years ago Hiccup and I left mysteriously and the reason for this was that Hiccup had been... attacked by a... Night Fury."  
The hall burst into sound, all the Vikings talking about this newly acquired information. A Night Fury had been seen, the most feared and powerful dragon to ever fly through the skies had attacked small little Hiccup. No Viking ever lived when attacked by a Night Fury. The Night Fury had never shown itself or engaged in combat before, what made it attack Hiccup was the question running through every ones minds?

"Did you see it?" A Vikings shouted at Gobber eagerly.

"Only vaguely." Gobber answered. "I was quite a ways away when it attacked Hiccup, I only saw a dark outline and its acidic green eyes," Gobber shuddered at the memory. "Before it flew away leaving a barely alive Hiccup behind."

"What happened next?" A council member asked a few seats down from Gobber.

"Well it was touch and go whether Hiccup would make it through the night. The elder worked all night long as Hiccup screamed in pain, to keep him alive. And by day break he was stable and I thank you again elder for your work." Gobber looked over at the Elder that sat on the other side of Stoick and inclined his head in thanks.

"But there was still work to be done. When Hiccup regained consciousness he managed to tell us that while the dragon was biting into his shoulder that he managed to plunge his dagger into the dragon's gums, the dragon then roared in pained and brought its leg down on Hiccups causing it to break. The moment Hiccup felt the pain in his leg he pulled the dagger out and was going to stab the dragon again, but the moment the dagger left the dragon's maw its blood poured onto Hiccups open wound, the sensation he said was like someone pouring acid onto your flesh, eating away at your skin. At that point I came to help him and when the dragon saw me running towards it, it flew off. The elder could see dark times ahead in Berks future should it have such a feeble chief and commanded that he leave Berk for training and that he could only return when he was sixteen. She said that Hiccup was going to need a lot of time to grow into his birthright and if not he would remain to be a danger to those around him." Many Viking nodded their head in agreement with the elder's decision.

"Stoick obviously objected to the idea of Hiccup leaving Berk, knowing that there was no way that Hiccup would be able to survive by himself, so I volunteered to go with him. Eventually Stoick agreed at the elder's insistence that it was the right thing to do and we left hours later."

Everyone continued to stare at Gobber, clinging to his every word. Everyone desperate to know what happened next.

"We sailed for five days until we came upon a large uninhabited Island where we set up camp there. Hiccup quickly regained his strength and after a week smashed his mud cast with his bare hands to reveal his completely healed leg. As the days past Hiccup continued to get stronger and faster, but those weren't the only changes. His personality completely changed he became so serious, he hardly crack a single joke, rarely smiled, even saying the word dragon made him angry, and he no longer complained about his food moaning about how he didn't like it or how gross it looked, he ate everything put in front of him."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion. They all remembered when Hiccup would constantly complain about the food he was served. His pickiness was legendary.

"Also after this morning I don't need to tell you his senses are stronger. He can literally smell a dragon from a mile away." With that every one turned to the married couple 'who Hiccup humiliated' turned red from embarrassment.

"Well after a few weeks I thought Hiccups new found strength was from training but then one night I woke up needing a drink. I saw hiccup was having a bad dream and right before my eyes his brown hair turned pitch black. I was going to wake him up but at that moment a loud roaring did the job for me and we were attacked by three Timmberjacks. The attack was a surprise and before I could fully understand what was happening one knocked me down and bit off my leg. Another seeing me wounded attacked and took my hand. By then I had given up on the fight before it really started and had resigned to my fate thanking Thor that I was about to die in battle, so that I would be granted entrance to Valhalla. But then I realized I forgotten all about Hiccup. Seeing me wounded he became furious and lost control that was the first time he transformed. I watched helplessly as Hiccup turned into the beast you all saw today and slaughtered every last one of the beasts. When all was done the dragons lay in pieces but Hiccup had his fare share of scratches, he approached me I thought he was going to kill me too for forgetting about him. But as I gazed into his unfamiliar face, deep in those eyes I saw the old Hiccup returning. He grabbed a large flat stone from nearby and held it in his scaled hand. He opened his mouth and breathed out blue fire, he directed the fire onto the stone and after a while the stone glowed with heat. His hand held the white hot rock as if it was nothing and placed a piece of wood into my mouth. By this point I knew what he was going to do. He pushed the rock into the stump of my arm, held it there for a few seconds then did the same to my leg, quartarising the wounds. I am not ashamed to admit that I passed out from the pain, it was excruciating. Hiccups told me that after that he flew me back to the ship and sailed to the nearest village before transforming back to normal and sought help from the villagers."

"For a few days I contemplated what to do about Hiccup. I knew we couldn't stay in the village much longer; the villagers were starting to get suspicious about how Hiccup and I escaped the attack. One night we secretly left. By that time I had realized that what happened to Hiccup could be a blessing from the Gods. Hiccup was able to single handily defeat three Timmberjacks with only a few gashes that quickly healed. I knew that if I could get Hiccup to harness this power then it could be of great benefit to our war against the dragons."

Gobber looked at the Vikings in the room, most of them seeing the advantages Hiccup could bring to the village. But many were still warily of what Hiccup could do. The threat he posed.

"After a few years Hiccup managed to gain more and more control over the power he possessed, managing to transform at will. What happened in the arena was unfortunate, and I blame myself for distracting Hiccup from the battle. I promise you all that events like what happened today will not happen again."

The hall was silent for a while as everyone took in everything Gobber had told them. Gobber prayed to the Gods that they would understand what an asset Hiccup could be. He looked over at Stoick and saw the same hopeful expression.

"Where is Hiccup now?" Another council member asked.

"Oh he's probably out there looking for a new tunic." everyone remembered the scrapes of the scaly clothing left in the arena.

"As you saw when he transforms his clothes shred as his body expands and his wings unfold, so before he transforms back he needs a new tunic. A down side to Hiccups 'gift' is that only dragon scales make suitable clothes for him as his natural body temperature has increased a bit so after awhile normal clothes start to catch fire. After a while Hiccup got the idea to make his leggings wider so they don't shred as he transforms. Also Hiccup tends to get into a lot of fights with dragons either to test his skills or because of his sheer hatred for them, so he needs a material that acts like fire proof armor for when he doesn't think the fight is worth transforming. After a while he started to prefer wearing scales. So after he transforms he skins the dead dragons for new clothes" There were a few smile and nods at this and Gobber saw it as a good sign.

Stoick stood up and spoke to the crowd. "The council will hold a meeting now to discuss Hiccups future. Everyone is to meet at Pledge Point at sundown for the graduates' pledges and our decision on Hiccup.

Later that evening

Stoick, Gobber, the council and the graduates made their way to Pledge Point, the rest of the village following behind. When they arrived they found Hiccup back to normal and leaning against a large rock waiting for them dressed in new dragon scale clothing. This time it looked like he wore Gronkle scale leggings that seemed baggy and a Nightmare scale vest, fresh blood still splattered across them. Through the opening of the vest around his shoulders they could see the scars left by the dreaded Night Fury's teeth seven years ago, some of them seemed dangerously deep to where they could be close to piercing his heart. The most surprizing thing was that he had muscle 'though not much' but just enough to rival Tuffnut

"Bout time you all showed up." Hiccup said standing striaght "I was getting bored. Have you made your decision?" Hiccup stared into each council members eyes, causing some of them to gulp in fear before his eyes settled on Stoick's. "We have." Stoick answered trying his best to look away from his sons piercing gaze.

"The council agrees that Hiccups unique... Skills will be invaluable to the war against the dragons and so it is decided that Hiccup is allowed to return to Berk."

There were a few cries of outrage, but most murmured in agreement with the decision. Astrid felt her heart skip a beat with relief at the council's decision and then scolded herself for it. She looked at Hiccup and saw a flicker of surprise flash across his face but it was gone a second later. She guessed he hadn't expected to be able to stay after what happened.

"Well now that that's sorted out let's get on with the Pledges, unlike Hiccup I'm shattered after days sailing." Gobber says barely suppressing a smile at the council's decision.

"Very well, Graduates approach the cliff." said Stoick and all six graduates stood at the very edge of the cliff and faced the setting sun. Astrid stood next to Hiccup but still kept a large distance between them, still slightly fearful of Hiccup, despite her crazy attraction to him.

"State your Pledges before the Gods and may they smite you down if your Pledge be false." Stoick said.

"I pledge to avenge all those that have suffered by dragons." said Snotlout.

"I pledge to help all those hurt by dragons." said Ruffnut.

"I pledge that I will spend every day to the fight against dragons." said Tuffnut.

"I pledge to educate future generations on dragons." said Fishlegs

"I pledge to protect the village from dragons." said Astrid. She turned her head slightly towards Hiccup, curious as to what he would pledge.

"I pledge... that every dragon I get my claws into won't live to see the next light of day." Hiccup said, putting his hand on the rock. "Especially the one that ruined my life." Hiccup finished transforming his hand and scraping his claws against the rocks hard surface hatred blazing in his eyes and Astrid could have sworn she could feel the whole village shudder.


	4. Chapter 4

Astrid lay in her bed the night that her and the other teens had made their pledges. There had been a massive celebration in the mead hall to congratulate the teens, but she had left early feigning illness. All she could think about was Hiccup, she couldn't believe the fire and hatred in his eyes as he stated his pledge in front of the entire village, she could almost feel the shiver that was sent through the entire village at the coldness of his voice. Although if that was the only thing she was thinking about she would have been okay as she was pretty sure that the Vikings that weren't already passed out where thinking about Hiccup's pledge as well. But it was Hiccup himself that Astrid couldn't get out of her mind. She couldn't stop comparing the Hiccup she used to know and this new Hiccup. She struggled to find any similarities between the two aside from their looks. But other thoughts about Hiccup started to wander through her mind. She wanted to know about the past years he'd been away, what he experienced in foreign places, what it was like to be part dragon and loads of other questions buzzed through her mind. Another thing that was troubling her was how she was starting to feel towards Hiccup. She couldn't help but plan how she should wear her hair, or what she should wear the next time she saw him.

'What am I saying?' She thought to herself. 'I am Astrid Hofferson, and I prepare myself for me and only me.' She told herself sternly. Down stairs she heard the door open and close, and her parents start walking about downstairs. She assumed that they would make their way to their room and sleep of the mead that they had just consumed.

So she was surprised when she heard the footsteps of her parents on the stairs leading up to her room. Her parents steps stopped just behind her door and a few seconds later she heard a knock, before they just walked in without her permission.

"Astrid, you awake?" Her father Agnar the Grey Mane asked loudly.

"Yeah, I'm awake." She replied, she could see that her father was slightly buzzed from the mead but could still mange coherent thought.

"Ya Ma and I, got summin to tell ye." Agnar stated a knowing smile on his face. Astrid looked at her mother, Runa the Battleborn who wore the same smile.

"What is it?" Astrid asked, a slight feeling of dread settling in the stomach.

"Remember a couple of moon cycles ago we were discussing your future." Runa began.

Astrid briefly remembered her mother barging into her room and demanded to know if their was anyone that she wanted to marry. When Astrid replied no, her mother went through several potential suitors that had shown interest, and began going on about potential grandchildren, dowries, marriage contracts and social standing. Astrid had stopped listening the moment her mother had finished listing the names of her potential suitors. She went through each of them in her head, planning individual strategies to scare them off. All her plans had gone brilliantly and she was confident that there was no one left in the village that would consider marrying her for a long time. Within the week all the families had withdrew their interest. Her parents had been really angry at the time but Astrid had simply told them that she didn't want the get married. Astrid didn't know why she was so against the idea getting married now, but she really didn't want too. After that Astrid's future hadn't been discussed until now.

"Yeah I remember." Astrid replied cautiously.

"Well..." Agnar began. " We've decided that it is definitely time for ye to get married and this time ye can't do anything to scare the bloke away 'cause if ye do, ye'll be disowned."

Astrid couldn't believe what she was hearing, her own parents were threatening to disown her if she didn't get married, how ridicules. Astrid looked at the joint force of her parents and could see that they were not going to be swayed from this stupid idea. She resigned to go along with it, but she was definitely going to make sure that her beloved new that she wasn't going willingly and that life with her would be terrible, she would rather be dragged kicking and screaming up the alter than marry someone.

"Who is my future husband?" Astrid asked, not even attempting to hide the disgust in her voice.

"Ye know Hott the Iron Belly." Agnar said. Astrid did know Hott, he was a traveling trader who practically lived on the sea and came to berk every now and then. he had been a friend of her family for years and she also remembered that he was like seventy years old!

"You can't be serious?!" Astrid screamed, "I'm not marrying Hott."

"Relax dear, you're not marring Hott, your marring Hott's son Jorund, and he's a lovely young man." Runa said.

"No way, Jorund is like ten years older than me!"

"And that is exactly why he will marry you. I doubt he'll let himself be bullied by a silly teenage girl. Come Runa we're going to let Astrid sink in the news." With that her parents left the room. Astrid heard her parent's footsteps as they walked back down stairs to their room, where she could no longer hear them.

Astrid lay on her bed and thought of her future. Despite Hott being a family friend she hardly knew his son, apart from that he almost always stayed in his house/boat doing Thor knows what when he and his father came to Berk. Astrid had always assumed it was because he was a terrible at fighting as he didn't even leave to help fight dragons.

What would they even talk to each other about? She was pretty sure that they had nothing in common. She was of course going to be expected to bare children as well, she couldn't even imagine how awkward that was going to be, the thought making her feel slightly sick. And from what her father had just said about him, he didn't seem like the nicest man to marry. Astrid began to drift off to sleep, where for a few hours she could escape the worries of her future...

_(Astrid was stood alone at pledge point looking out across the sea, the sun was approaching the horizon and soon it would start to disappear beyond the edge of the world. Astrid felt utterly at peace as the soft ocean breeze wafted through her hair, a contented smile on her face. Astrid was so out of it that she didn't even notice that the cliff was starting to crack and rock was starting to fall away. And before she knew it the cliff had fallen away and she was falling, she tried to scream for help, but no sound came out of her mouth. Astrid closed her eyes and resigned herself to her fate, praying the Odin that she didn't hit a rock. Time passed and she never felt the impact of the ice cold water. She cracked one of her eyes open and saw the deep blue sea getting further and further away. She felt someone's hands wrapped around her upper arms but before she could look up she felt herself being thrown softly upward and landing, cradled in the person's arms. She opened her eyes fully now and recognised a familiar face... Hiccup. As if he felt her recognise him, he looked down at her face and smiled. Astrid looked around and realised that they were flying through the clouds, the last rays of sunlight streaming through the gaps and it was utterly beautiful. Astrid turned her head back to face Hiccup and noticed something behind him, she looked over his shoulder and saw a pair of beautiful jet black wings, with the suns light reflecting off the shiny scales. Astrid expected herself to be repulsed, but instead she felt nothing but admiration for Hiccup and the sorrows he must have had to endure. Hiccup looked down at her and smirking before changing his angle and flying upwards. Hiccup was gaining speed and Astrid was surprised that she felt no fear. The last layers of clouds were approaching and just as they were about to break through.)_

Astrid awoke with a start, flinging her upper body off the bed and was breathing heavily. Astrid had no idea what had brought the dream on and she was unsure what she should think about it. It was one of the happiest dreams she had ever had but it had been about Hiccup being part dragon and she felt almost as if she was betraying the village by accepting Hiccup being part dragon, even if only in her dreams.

Astrid decided to forget about the dream for now and get ready for training. She climbed out of bed and got dressed before heading out of her house. On the way to the training grounds Astrid saw Gobber approach her. Gobber had always been nice to her in the past but she hadn't seen him since he left years ago and so she was unsure of why he was coming over to her.

"Aye Astrid, I've bin looking for ye all mornin'. Could ye and the other teens meet me at the watchtower pronto." Gobber asked, his thick accent making him hard to understand.

"Ummm, sure let me just go and grab them and we'll meet you there." Astrid replied.

"Aye good." He replied before walking towards the watch tower.

Astrid carried on walking to the training grounds trying to figure out what Gobber could possible want to talk to them all about. Before she knew it she had arrived at the training grounds where Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs were waiting. They all nodded in greeting to her.

"Hey everyone," Astrid said, "Gobber wants us to meet him at the watch tower now, so let's go and before you ask, no I don't know what he wants."

The five of them walked silently towards the watchtower before ascending the stairs where Gobber was sat waiting for them.

"Aye good, ya all here. Take a seat, I need to ask ye a favor." Gobber said, and indicated with his hook/hand for everyone to sit.

"Now I know I ain't see ye all for a couple years now, an I'm proud to see ye've all turned inta good strong Vikings. As ye've probably realised by now that us Vikings don't live very long lives and I know I don't look it, but I'm gettin on in ma years and probably aint gonna be around for much longer. So I have a big favour to ask of ye." He paused to take a breath and looked at each of them to let them know that he was deadly serious. "I need ya all to befriend Hiccup, so when I'm gone ye'll be there for 'im."

There was a moment of stunned silence as each of the teens registered what Gobber had just asked. Snotlout was the first to speak up.

"You can't be serious, did you see what he turned into in the arena. I don't want to go anywhere near him, not that I'm scared of him."

"I agree with Snotlout, he isn't safe to be around. How do we know he isn't secretly working with dragons." Ruffnut said.

"Ye gotta believe me when I say that there aint nothing Hiccup hates more than dragons." Gobber said.

The argument carried on for a while with the teens trying to convince Gobber that there was no way that they were befriending Hiccup and Gobber ordering/ pleading them to do so.

Everyone was so caught up in the argument that they didn't notice that Astrid had remained completely silent.


	5. Chapter 5

"I think we should do it." Astrid's calm voice cut through the arguments around her and everyone stared at her in shock.

"Astrid are you nuts!" Snotlout gasped. "Did you see what he did in the arena? He's dangerous."

"What's a mater Snotlout? Scared of little Hiccup?" Tuffnut laughed.

"What?! No don't be ridiculous. I just think that he trying to trick people into feeling sorry for him and that we shouldn't give into him." Snotlout said defensibly. Ruffnut just shuck her head at her friend and brother, and turned back to Astrid.

"Why? You never wanted to befriend Hiccup before." Ruffnut stated. Astrid didn't dare to tell her friends the true reason which was that she wanted to find out more about his life away, get to know him better and try and sort out the mysterious feeling that she had started developing for him.

"I just think that it would be beneficial for us and the village if we tried to befriend him because then he could tell us all he knows about dragons and we can get to know his fighting techniques so it will be easier to fight alongside him." Astrid said, trying to make her reasoning sound logical because if her friends didn't agree with her then she would have no reason to hang around Hiccup.

There was a silent moment as her friends considered her reasons. Gobber looked between the five friends and anxiously awaited their decision.

"I agree with Astrid, I think it would be a good idea to study Hiccup to help us gain more knowledge and to make sure that he isn't a danger to the village." Fishlegs finally stated.

"If you two are for it, then I ain't got a problem with it." Tuffnut shrugged.

"Well if Tuffnut's fine with it, then I guess I am too." Ruffnut said. The four friends then turned to Snotlout waiting for his answer.

"B... Bu... But... Oh fine, but if he goes crazy and kills us then I'm blaming you lot when we're in Midgard." Snotlout finally huffed, folding his arms and stared angrily at the ocean.

"Oh thank Thor." Gobber announced. "You won't regret this. You should start straight away, he'll be around here somewhere." He laughed walking towards the stairs, muttering about how they were going to be the best of friends. "Oh, one last thing, Hiccup tends to use intimidation tactics when he wants to get people to leave him alone, but don' let them get to ya unless his hair starts to go black or his eye's start glitting then you have nothing to fear."

"Well come on then, he's not going to find himself." Ruffnut said once Gobber had disappeared and started walking down the watchtower with her friends following behind her.

xXx

After walking around Berk for what felt like hours the five Viking teens eventually discovered Hiccup down on the beach a good distance from the village. As the teens got closer to him they noticed that he was stood about waist deep in the ocean remaining perfectly still.

Astrid noticed the vest that Hiccup had been wearing when he had made his pledge. Astrid squinted at Hiccup in the distance and noticed that he was indeed topless. She could make out the well toned back muscles as well as the same multiple round scars like on his chest. "Woah!" she heard Ruffnut say almost silently and turned to see a small blush on her face.

The teens were all wondering what the hell Hiccup was doing, but just as they were about to call over to him he raised his hand holding up one finger indicating for them to remain silent.

Everything remained silent for a few minutes and just as Astrid was about to call out to him because she was getting impatient a fish jumped out of the water. It all seem to happen in slow motion, just as the fish broke through the surface of the water Hiccup lunged forward and grabbed the fish in his mouth. With the fish secured between his teeth, he began to walk towards the group of Vikings on the beach that stood watching him with a mixture of awe, shock and disgust on their faces. By the time Hiccup walked out of the water, to everyones amazement the fish in his mouth was still alive and franticly twitching until Hiccup bit down and its body went totally still. Hiccup slowly grabbed the head of the fish and tore it from tthe body and began eating the rest, before spitting out the bones. When he finished the fish he turned to the Viking who he wished would go away.

"What do you want?" He asked in his emotionless voice. Astrid stared blankly at him, completely distracted by the water droplets that were slowly making their way down his scarred chest.

"Um..." Fishlegs started, confused as to why Astrid had blanked out or why Ruffnut was blushing. "We were just wondering if we could talk you."

"Let me save you some time by saying that there isn't anything I know about dragons that you don't know except that shoving a claw through their chest kills just as good as any axe or sword." Hiccup said in a venomous voice, raising his hand so they could see his fingers turn into claws.

"Well you could tell us what it been like travelling the world." Tuffnut asked.

"Why? You Vikings will never leave Berk so why do you care." Hiccup said reaching down to grab his vest before shrugging it on. This action seemed to break Astrid out of her daze, Hiccup just stared at her confused.

"Well how about telling us some of your fighting techniques." Snotlout said, purely just so he could say he tried to befriend Hiccup.

"Not much technique to my fighting, I just bob and weave to tire them out then attack until the filthy beast dies." Hiccup growled as if the very thought of a dragon angered him.

"Did you miss Berk while you were gone?" Ruffnut asked, even though she was pretty sure she knew the answer.

"You really couldn't have asked a more stupid question, could you?" Hiccup answered in a sarcastic voice. Tuffnut made to take a step towards Hiccup, angry that he had insulted his twin, only he was allowed to do that. But Ruffnut just grabbed his arm and shook her head, indicating for him to drop it. Hiccup just smirked at the two of them, not the least bit worried about starting a fight with them.  
There was silence throughout the group as the Vikings struggled to find something else to ask and Hiccup not caring about the awkwardness he was causing.

"What about your transformation?" Astrid said bluntly. Hiccup attention focused solely on Astrid as she defiantly stared into his green eyes.

"What about it?" Hiccup hissed.

"Does it... hurt?" She asked. Hiccup took a step towards Astrid and looked down at her. He stood close enough for her to feel each breath fan across her face, and she was surprised by the fact that she didn't feel repulsed by it.

"You were in the arena, you saw. What do you think?" He smirked at her.

"I think that if you didn't have a good tolerance for pain then it might hurt... a little." Astrid said smirking right back at him, standing straighter to try and match his height.

The four Vikings watched as their friend metaphorically poked the sleeping dragon with a stick. There weren't sure if they should speak up or remain quiet and see what would happen.

"And you think you could do better?" Hiccup asked a challenge in his voice and eyes.

"I probably wouldn't even groan." Hiccup let out a small chuckle and tilted his head as if he was examining her.

"Truth be told if I don't transform in a week it really hurts when I actualy try, that's why I was so glad to get off that gods forsaken boat." Hiccup said then streched.  
Astrid felt as though she was getting through to him.

He heard footsteps coming and looked down the beach before someone called out to him. "Hiccup," it was Hoark "the elders want to see right now." Hiccup briefly flicked his eyes to the man that spoke to see a messenger that he didn't recognise before bringing his eyes back to Astrid only to discover that she had taken a step back and was gazing at the ocean.

"I'm busy. What do they want?" Turning back to the messenger.

"They want you to give a drawing of the Night Fury that attacked you, because you were the only one to get a good look at it." Hiccup's expression faltered just for a second as the memory of that wretched night flashed through his mind, his hatred boiled up as he thought of the monster that turned him into a hybrid freak, and his hair began to change.

Astrid was the only one who noticed the quick change as it was happening . "Hiccup!" she said a little to loud and every one looked at her. She the looked away feeling a little stupid.

Hiccup then turned back to Hoark "I don't want to walk all the way up to the Mead Hall just to draw a picture." Hiccup stated before walking over to the bottom of the cliff and picking up a flatish rock. Then using one of his claws/fingers he began carving out an image. After a minute or two Hiccup with drew his finger and looked at his picture before nodding and walking towards the messenger and handing him the rock. The legendarily beast was a lot smaller than most dragons, clearly meant for speed and agility rather than brute strength.

"Are you sure this is it?"

"I've had the image of that dragon burned into my memory for the last seven years. That is exactly what it looked like."

The messenger cast one last look at Hiccup and the group of Vikings before turning around to take the carving Hiccup had given him back to the elders. Hiccup turned back to the group of Vikings and saw that they were just standing awkwardly. They clearly had nothing more they wanted to say, so Hiccup couldn't figure out why they were still there.

"Well as fun as this has been," Hiccup said sarcastically taking a couple of steps away from the group. "I've got to fly, literally. Places to be, dragons to kill, you know how it is." Hiccup was about to unfold his wings when he heard Snotlout speak up.

"See this is what I meant." He shouted pointing at Hiccup, but talking to the other teens. "Everyone's says we should pity him because he got attacked when he was young and now he's cursed. But look at him, openly accepting what he's become. I bet he secretly wanted something like it to happen so he'd have a half decent reason to stick out from everyone." Everyone stood in silence staring at Snotlout, none of them sure if they should tell him off or secretly agree with him. Snotlout turned to glare at Hiccup who wore an emotionless expression.

"Well, what do you have to say now, freak?!"

"You're absolutely right." Snotlout did a double take at Hiccups answer. "What nine year old boy doesn't dream of being attacked and nearly killed by a dragon on his birthday?"

That made all eye's go wide even Snotlout's

"Y-Your birthday?" Fishlegs asked still in shock

Hiccup gave a nod and looked to the ocean. "I admit my birthdays were never any different then any other day, infact my dad and Gobber were the only ones who would attend the parties, but as the years passed my dad became more and more obssesed with tending to the village even when everything was already taken care of. On my eighth my dad left with a search party to try and find the nest, leaving only Gobber to celebrate with me, it was the worst birthday of all... or so I thought." Hiccup looked st his hands.

'Oh Hiccup' Astrid thought to herself feeling as though her eye's were on the verge of watering.

"It was all because I was weak, but if there's one thing my dad loves more than anything it's killing dragons." Hiccup looked to Snotlout with a steely gaze "So yeah I've accepted what I am and I alone will do the one thing that my father never could, I'm going to kill every last in dragon in Midgard, or at least make a big enough dent in their population to where the next genaration can finish up." Hiccup looked back out to the sea then transformed, his vest becomeing nothing more than shreads, and he took to the sky. Leaving behind him one shocked egotistical teen, three teens feeling sorry for him, and one who had a single tear running down her cheek.


	6. Chapter 6

**MY BELOVED FANS, DUE TOO MY PARTNER'S ABSENCE I AM AFRAID I CAN NO LONGER CONTINUE WITH THIS STORY. SO UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE THIS STORY IS ON HIATUS, I WILL LOOK THROUGH TO MAKE ANY CORRECTIONS BUT IF I AM UNABLE TO DO SO I AM AFRAID I WILL HAVE TO TERMINATE THE STORY ENTIRELY. FORGIVE ME.**


	7. Chapter 7

They all stood frozen in place, unable to process what Hiccup just said. "I can't believe he got attacked on his birthday of all days." Fishlegs muttered.

"I can't believe we didn't even know it was his birthday." Astrid chimed in.

Now that she thought about it what did they know about Hiccup? She knew he was Gobber's apprentice, that he couldn't use a weapon to save his life, that he tended to joke about everything, that his contraptions tended to fail all the time. That was it, that was all she knew about Hiccup before he left. She knew him all her life and yet she knew almost nothing about him.

"Hey, what do you guys remember of Hiccup before he got attacked?" She asked.

The other teens all gave her weird glances before starting to think about the question. "Euh, he screwed everything up." Snotlout said.

"He tripped over his own two feet." Tuffnut added.

"He screamed like a baby every time a dragon got close to him." Ruffnut chimed in.

"He had an intelligence of at least +4." Fishlegs said in his typical nerd language.

"Well if we're gonna be friends with him we might as well start with finding out more about him." Astrid concluded.

"And how are we gonna do that with the freak in question flying off to who knows where?" Snotlout complained.

"We could always go ask the Chief." Fishlegs pointed out.

"Really? You want to bother the Chief to ask him about his son?" Snotlout said.

"I don't think he knows much more than us." Tuffnut chimed in.

"Why would you say that?" Fishlegs asked.

"Euh, you do remember how Chief Stoick acted around Hiccup right? The only time they spent together was spent yelling at Hiccup or sending Hiccup home." Ruffnut explained.

"Still it's better than nothing. Come on guys." Astrid said while making her way back to the village.

When they arrived back in town they immediately set course towards the house of the Chief which was located on the largest hill of the village. Stoick often told curious children that he lived there because a Chieftain should be able to look over all of his villagers. When they reached the door the all stopped and didn't move.

"Well aren't you going to knock Astrid?" Ruffnut asked.

"Why should I be the one to knock?" She asked. Truth be told she was a bit scared. The Chief is an intimidating man and she didn't know how he would react to them asking about his son.

"Well because it was you who wanted to befriend Hiccup in the first place." Ruffnut shot back.

"Yea but Snotlout's his nephew. It would make more sense if he knocked."

Unable to take anymore, Tuffnut grinned evilly and knocked on the door and took his place behind the bickering girls. Astrid and Ruffnut remained oblivious to Tuffnut's knocking until Stoick the Vast opened his door.

"Yes, can I help you?" Astrid and Ruffnut who hadn't been expecting someone to talk to them both whirled in the direction of the voice and saw that the Chief had opened his door. They could hear snickering in the background and Ruffnut immediately realized her brother must have knocked when she was arguing with Astrid. She pounced on him and tried to get a good hit. The Chief realizing he wasn't getting an answer out of her turned to Astrid in the hope she could explain what they were all doing here. "Well, speak up?"

Astrid stood there for a moment steeling her nerves before speaking. "Uh, I- I mean we were wondering if you could tell us a little about Hiccup, Sir."

Stoick looked at her confused for a moment before replying. "Why, if I may ask, the sudden interest in my son?"

Astrid was unsure how to answer that question. If she was honest she just wanted to know more about him, but if she told them they want to know more about him because Gobber asked them to, well she wouldn't know how the Chief would react to that piece of information. unfortunately Snotlout thought she was taking too long to answer. "Gobber asked us to befriend him uncle Stoick, so he has friends when Gobber is gone."

"What do you mean when Gobber's gone?" Stoick asked looking confused.

"Gobber wants to make sure someone's around to keep Hiccup out of trouble when he's no longer with us." Astrid said.

Realization dawned on Stoick as he thought back to the blacksmith's fake limbs. No doubt he'd realize his physical limit long ago. "Well I am afraid I can't tell you much since I haven't seen him in 7 years. Before that I was always too busy with the village to really know anything about him." He replied.

"I told you so." Tuffnut said to the others earning an elbow jab to the gut from his twin

"The only thing I do know is that he always carried a notebook with him when he was young, I didn't pay much attention to what he wrote in it, but you might be able to learn something from that. It's probably still upstairs in his room if you want to look at it."

This was better than they had expected, they wouldn't even have to talk to Hiccup to get to know him. The teens rushed up the stairs into the room that belonged to Hiccup.

"Wow. It looks so empty." Fishlegs mentioned. It was true the room was extremely empty except for the bed, a desk and a chair

"Well maybe he took everything with him and hasn't had time to put it back yet." Astrid replied.

As they looked through the room Astrid noticed a book on the corner of the desk. She walked over to it and opened it. It was filled with sketches of the village and the villagers. As she continued to look at the pages she couldn't help but notice that the feeling of the sketches got sadder as she progressed through the book. There was one sketch of the Great hall and she could easily identify the table where she and the other teens were sitting, but the atmosphere of the picture wasn't happy at all and she soon noticed why, of in the corner there was a small figure watching her, not the other teens but her in particular. She made a guess it was Hiccup.

The other teens noticing Astrid found the book gathered around her and looked at the pages. They were filled with sketches of Snotlout and the twins bullying him or just of them having a good time while he was standing at the sidelines on his own.

"Wow, he looks so sad." Astrid told them. None of them could find their voice for a minute.

"Wait a minute." Snotlout spoke up suddenly. "Why aren't you and Fishlegs in here, it just shows me and Ruff and Tuff."

When Astrid looked closer she noticed it was true, the pictures where Hiccup got bullied never showed her or Fishlegs. But before she could answer they all heard someone rapidly tap their foot on the floor.

They all turned and saw Hiccup standing at the door with a few dragon pelts slung over his shoulder.

"What, may I ask, are you all doing in my room?" He growled at them.

"Uh, we were just-" Tuffnut tried to say before Hiccup walked over to him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him into the air.

"You know what. Forget I asked anything and just get out. NOW!" He then released Tuffnut, letting him fall on his rear. Hiccup then turned his attention to the other teens and they all noticed that his eyes seemed to glow and his hair was starting to turn black, they all knew what it meant and dashed out of the room and down the stairs. Astrid sat there for a second before getting up and walking out the room. When she passed Hiccup she muttered an apology for how she acted in the past and walked down the stairs with his notebook hidden under her tunic.

'I can't believe they would invade my privacy like that.' Hiccup thought angrily. 'Well I suppose dad let them in. I knew I should have talked to him about this sooner.' Hiccup then made his way down the stairs and stopped in front of his father's chair. "Dad." Stoick looked up from the fire.

"Yes, son?"

"I would like a house of my own."

Stoick's eyes widened for a moment. "Why would you want that? What's wrong with your room in this house?" He was honestly confused about the request.

"Well, it doesn't really feel like home anymore, especially if you let everyone in there without my permission." Hiccup narrowed his eyes at his father. Stoick glanced away from his son's piercing gaze.

"They just wanted to-"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY WANTED! You let them in my room without my permission, so it would be best if I got my own place." Hiccup glared at his father willing him to disagree with him.

Stoick sighed. "Okay, Hiccup. I'll see if I can arrange something for you."


	8. Chapter 8

**6.**

**I'VE RECENTLY GOT INTO A SITE CALLED AND ONE STORY GO MY INTERESTS "GRIM TALES" BUT TO THOSE OF YOU WITH WEEK STOMACHS STAY AWAY FROM THE SITE. **

After she left the Chief's house Astrid went home and walked past her mother in the kitchen and walked up to her room. When she was sure her mom wouldn't come up she revealed the notebook from under her tunic and started looking at the pages again.

She skipped the ones she already saw, the ones where Hiccup was bullied by his cousin and the twins. As she continued to browse through the pages she suddenly stopped as one of the pictures caught her eye. It was a picture of a girl with a long braid, shining eyes, an armored skirt and armored shoulder guards and holding a battle ax. She saw that this picture was neater than the other ones, suggesting Hiccup spent allot of time working on it. It cost her a moment though to realize that it was her in the picture.

She didn't know what to think, did this mean he liked her? The thought made her happy since she started to like him too, ever since he came back. Then she remembered that she was already promised to someone else, someone she didn't even know and probably would never like, at least not as she liked Hiccup. But there was nothing she could do about it. Marriages involving the family of a Chieftain were always complicated, the dowry would have to be high enough as not to offend the Chief and the potential wives would have to come from the best families.

Although that's not what makes that union impossible, it's Hiccup himself. He was always a bit weird but now he's even worse and Astrid can't even begin to think what her parents might say if she asks them to open negotiations with Chief Stoick to marry Hiccup. She just tried not to think too much about it while she skipped through the pages of Hiccup's notebook and saw picture after picture, all of her.

After looking through Hiccup's notebook some more Astrid was felling hungry and left to get some dinner at the Great Hall. As she grabbed her food and looked over at the tables she saw her friends sitting at their usual table, but just as she was about to walk over to them she saw Hiccup sitting at a table a few feet away from them.

She couldn't help but remember the picture of him sitting all alone during the party, looking at her. So she decided to go sit with Hiccup, if only to try and become his friend again, since their last two tries didn't result in much. As she makes her way over she sees the other teens looking at her, all expecting her to come sit with them. She just caught a glimpse of their confused faces as she walked past them and sat down across from Hiccup. As she sits down she can see Hiccup look up through his eyelashes.

"What are you doing here?" He growled. She guessed he was trying to intimidate her so she would leave him alone, like Gobber told them. Or he was mad about her and the others trespassing in his room.

"I just want to eat dinner, you got a problem with that?" She was trying to act tough so he'd know she wasn't backing down, but she couldn't help but be a bit frightened. She was almost sure Hiccup wouldn't actually hurt her, but that didn't make it more comfortable for her.

"No I don't have a problem with you eating dinner. I have a problem with you eating dinner here, just as I have a problem with people going in my room without permission and going over all of my stuff." At this he raised his eyes to her, daring her to deny it.

"Yeah, about that, we're really sorry but we just wanted to get to know you better." Even though that's not true she didn't dare tell him that they went through his notebook, even more so that she took said notebook home with her.

"So why didn't you just talked instead of barging into my room?" He said while glaring at her.

"Well in our defense, we tried to do that on the beach but you just flew away."

"Are you seriously blaming me for that?" He looked angry now, not just to intimidate but really angry.

"No, I don't blame you. But you have to understand that we just wanted to learn more about you."

"Yea right. You guys never wanted to do that before, so why the sudden change of heart?" She didn't want to tell the real reason she wanted to befriend him but she also didn't want him to think they only did it because Gobber asked them to. Unfortunately she couldn't come up with a good lie, so she decided to tell him the truth. Sort of.

"Yeah, you're right we never wanted to because you were almost always screwing up. I know it wasn't your intention but it kinda made hanging out with you social suicide. We were kinda asked by Gobber to become friends. He thinks he doesn't have much time left and didn't want you to be all alone in the village without anyone to keep you in check."

Hiccup seemed to think it over. Astrid thought that he might think she was trying to trick him. "That makes sense I guess. Gobber has been trying extra hard for me to socialize more since we came back to Berk. But that's no reason you should just barge into my room like that." He said while glaring at her.

"You're right. I'm sorry, but can we just sit and talk? Like friends?"

"Fine." He says it through gritted teeth, making clear he isn't fine with it at all. "But only because Gobber won't stop trying otherwise."

Even though this meant he didn't really want to be friends it still made her happy that she could spent some time with him. She was happy that she could now talk to him like a friend but she had no idea what to talk about. She didn't know what he liked and disliked and there were only so many questions she dared to ask about his condition. Until one specific question popped into her mind. "What's it like? Flying?"

"Huh? Flying?" Hiccup seemed confused about the sudden question.

"Yea. I mean you are the only human that ever flew in the sky so I wanna know what it's like."

"Uh, I don't know really. Normally I'm too focused on finding dragons to pay attention to it I guess." He seemed to be thinking about it. "I guess it's pretty nice to feel the wind in your hair and all, but other than that I don't know."

"Could you take me up there sometime?" She knew she was pushing it, but she really wanted to go flying with Hiccup ever since she had that weird dream.

"You want to go flying?"

"Yea, plus it'll help convince Gobber that you made friends." She thought it was a pretty good lie and in the end it would probably make Gobber think that she succeeded in befriending Hiccup.

"Sure, why not."

Astrid couldn't be happier. She was going flying through the clouds with Hiccup. "Okay, so when do you want to go? The sooner the better right?"

"Uh, yea I think so, but I have to think about when exactly, since I have to make sure Gobber sees us." She hadn't thought of that, in order for Gobber to truly believe it, he would have to see them take off, or land.

"Yeah, that's okay. Just let me know when you're good to go." They continued to eat the rest of their dinner in silence until Hiccup excused himself. As he was walking out of the Great Hall, Astrid couldn't help but stare after him, oblivious to the stares she was getting from the other teens.


End file.
